


Not So Secret Secrets

by Loralyi



Series: We're In This Together [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, M/M, Mystery/ sort of, Pining, Slow Burn, Watari is best bro, it is for Yahaba at least
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2018-11-30
Packaged: 2019-02-13 10:42:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12982329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loralyi/pseuds/Loralyi
Summary: Yahaba's trying to figure out how to turn himself and Kyoutani into a functioning setter and ace team and everyone is suggesting that they get to know each other better, which is easier said than done. And as if that wasn't enough this strange golden dog comes to his rescue and starts following him around and he's fairly certain it's more sentient than a dog is supposed to be.





	1. First Encounter

“You’re not trying! If you were you could have easily hit that!”

“I’m not _trying_?! You’re the one who refuses to sync with _me_ , you just expect me to hit whatever you toss!”

“Why should I be the only one to change? We’re supposed to be a team!”

Kyoutani scoffed. “Yeah, _supposed_ to be.” He was already walking away by the time Oikawa and Iwaizumi had made their way over to quell their fighting. Iwaizumi turned and followed after Kyoutani while Oikawa stayed, giving Yahaba a sympathetic smile. Yahaba growled in frustration and kicked at the gym floor.

“Why does Coach force me to practice with him? It’s a waste of time.” Yahaba asked glaring at the floor.

“Because you two are going to be next year’s setter and ace and you need to work on your teamwork.” Oikawa answered simply. Yahaba knew that, and he knew that he was partly to blame for today’s fight. Partly. But Kyoutani had been especially annoying today, honestly he had been all week, and Yahaba had hit his limit.

 “Yeah if we don’t kill each other by then.” Yahaba sighed heavily. Oikawa laughed and Yahaba moved his glare from the floor to Oikawa. “I’m serious. I might kill him.” Oikawa smirked.

“Good luck with that.”

Yahaba rolled his eyes at Oikawa’s patronizing tone. “Shouldn’t you be giving me advice on how to handle him or something? Or are you just here to bother me?” Because at this point he was at a complete loss as to how he was supposed to rectify this situation and could really use some advice.

“If it were literally anyone else I would most certainly give you my best captainly advice, but let’s be real, you can handle him way better than I can.” Oikawa shrugged.

Yahaba’s shoulders slumped with a sigh and he glanced across the gym where Iwaizumi was giving a stern talk to a Kyoutani that was clearly barely listening. He stood with his arms crossed and was looking at just about everything but Iwaizumi with his usual scowl. Their eyes met for a moment and the scowl deepened as he quickly jut his chin in the opposite direction.

“I don’t really think fighting with him is better than him ignoring me.” Yahaba said skeptically.

“I do. It means he respects you enough to answer. I think. Or at least that’s what Iwa-chan says.” He waved his hand in Iwaizumi’s general direction.

That was a good point, Kyoutani flat-out ignored most people so any reaction was probably a good reaction in his case. But it wasn’t enough. If they couldn’t work out their communication problems by next year their team was screwed, and Yahaba cared way too much about the team’s future to let himself be a part of what drags them down. Something had to be done.  

He asks Watari about it as their walking out of the locker rooms after practice.

“I don’t know man, you handle him better than anyone else, ‘cepts Iwaizumi of course.”

“Everyone says that,” Yahaba sighed heavily, “but fighting with him all the time isn’t enough! And no matter how much we practice one on one nothing changes.”

“Hmm…” Watari rubs his chin. “Maybe you just need to get to know him better outside of volleyball.”

Yahaba gaped at him as if he had just suggested that he shoot himself in the foot. Watari laughed sheepishly, “I know it sounds crazy-”

“It does.”

“-but think about it. What makes Oikawa and Iwaizumi such a great team?”

Yahaba thought about that for a moment. “Because they’re dating?” Watari shook his head.

“Ok yeah that’s part of it, but it’s because they understand each other so well. They understand what motivates the other and where to draw the line. You and Kyoutani have a communication issue, and like you said, you’ve tried just about everything you can on the court to get through to him and nothings working. So if you can figure out how to talk to him about normal stuff then maybe you can translate it to volleyball.”

Yahaba pondered that for a moment. “I guess,” He relented, “but how do I go about doing that? We can’t even talk about our common interest of volleyball, how am I supposed to talk to him about other things?” They came to a stop as they reached the spot where their paths home diverged. Watari shrugged with a confident smile and patted Yahaba on the back, “That’s for you to figure out, future captain.”

“Yeah yeah.” Waving his friend off he continued his walk home thinking of ways he could possibly get to know Kyoutani better. But every situation he came up with he could only picture Kyoutani ignoring him or refusing to take part. He could offer to help with homework, but he highly doubted Kyoutani would accept his help. And asking for help would likely earn him a sneer and rude comments on how their future captain needed help. Maybe he could ask Iwaizumi for advice, he seemed to get on with Kyoutani better than anyone else at school. There was a good chance he would be more helpful than Oikawa at least.

He was so deep in thought that he didn’t see the man in front of him until he all but ran into him.

“Ah, sorry sir.” He apologized quickly, blinking and getting his bearings. The man before him appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties with messy black hair and a scruffy beard. His clothes looked like they had seen better days and the smell radiating from him suggested he was in need of a shower.

“No need to apologize.” The man smiled but it didn’t quite reach his eyes as they looked Yahaba up and down with interest. He leaned in breathing deep and Yahaba was thoroughly freaked out at this point. Everything about this man was setting off warning sirens in his head, and he tried to back away to put some space between them but the man just followed.

“Well, I should be going.” Yahaba attempted to say nonchalantly and tried to walk past the man but he reached out and grabbed ahold of Yahaba’s arm and Yahaba started to panic.

“Hold on there, I’ve got a few questions for you.” The man drawled all too close to Yahaba’s ear, but before the man could do or say anything a loud growl erupted from behind him.

Without a change in expression the man turned to address the large angry dog that had appeared behind him. “This one yours?” He asked. Yahaba shook his head but the man didn’t seem to care about his answer and continued to stare down the growling dog, grip tight on Yahaba’s arm. After a second or two that felt like an eternity the man released him, putting his hands in the air and backed away. “Sorry ‘bout that, I’m sure you’ve got plenty of homework to do. Maybe we’ll talk some other time.” The dog’s growls intensified at his words and it watched the man until he walked out of sight before becoming silent, though its body remained stiff with tension. Yahaba on the other hand let out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding and nearly fell to the sidewalk. Instead he stood bent over with his hands on his knees and brain running a mile a minute. Who was that? And why did they seem like they knew him? It was easily the strangest and scariest encounter he’d ever had, and he wasn’t entirely sure how to react. Lost in his thoughts again he jumped violently when the dog poked its nose into his face.

The dog jumped back as well, but stayed close and looked at him with what could only be concern. Now that he was calming down he noticed just how strange this dog was. It was rather large and built like what he could only describe as a wolf because it looked like no other breed of dog he had ever seen. But he’d also never seen a wolf that was completely golden like this one was, though as he looked he noticed it wasn’t a solid color. Two bands of black fur perfectly circled its neck in a way he had never seen on an animal before. Even stranger than its appearance was the way it was acting, with the way it had treated the man with such ferocity to now carefully walking up to him as if afraid it was going to scare him again. Finally regaining his breath and no longer feeling like he was about to fall over he reached out to the dog, letting it sniff his hand before scratching it behind the ear.

“Thanks for saving me, I think I would have been in quite a bit of trouble if you hadn’t shown up.” The dog sniffed as if agreeing and Yahaba laughed. He’d never met a dog with so much personality before, was this normal? Or was he just seeing things because he was still freaking out over what had just happened? Probably the latter.

“I’d better get home, I don’t particularly want to wait around and see that guy again.” He straightened up and started to walk towards home meaning to say goodbye to the dog over his shoulder when he realized it was walking beside him, shoulders set and ears back, looking every bit like a guard dog.

“Walking me home?” He asked with a small smile.

The dog flicked its ear but otherwise ignored him. On one hand bringing a strange stray dog home seemed like a bad idea, but he also felt a whole lot safer with the dog by his side so he decided to let it follow as long as it liked which turned out to be the whole way home. It walked beside him looking every bit like a fully trained working dog and not the stray Yahaba assumed it actually was. Once he got to his house he expected to have to shoo it off but as soon as he turned to his gate it stopped and watched him before turning away.

“Wait!” He called after it and it paused, looking back at him curiously. “Umm, just wait here okay? I’ll be right back.” The dog just continued to look at him but he took it for conformation and rushed into his house and straight into the kitchen. After doing so much for him he figured the least he could do was give it something to eat. He just hoped it would still be there when he got back. Finding a tub of leftover meat in the fridge he grabbed a few pieces and quickly headed back outside. The dog was still there, standing in front of the gate to his yard with its head tilted to the side as if wondering what he was doing. And as relieved as he was that it had listened he couldn’t help but wonder again if dogs usually acted like this, because he was fairly certain they didn’t. Stepping back through the gate he kneeled and offered the food to the dog who sniffed at it briefly before looking up to his face almost questioningly.

“For saving me back there. And walking me home.” He answered, still not quite believing that he was talking to this dog as if it could understand him. It turned its attention back to the meat, giving it another sniff before gently taking it from Yahaba’s hand and with a few bites swallowed it gone. Yahaba reached out and scratched it behind the ear again and the dog took a moment to enjoy it, even wagging its tail slightly for the first time since it had appeared. Then it stepped forward and gently started nudging Yahaba back towards his house, as if reminding him that the street wasn’t safe. “Alright alright.” Yahaba stood and moved back toward his gate and paused with a hand on it. “But don’t be a stranger alright?” The dog just stared back at him.

Once back in his house he looked out the window. The dog was still standing there, watching the house for a moment as if making sure Yahaba was going to stay inside. After a moment it turned, trotting off back the way they had come and within seconds it was out of sight.

Moving to his room Yahaba dropped his bag to the floor and flopped onto his bed. Now that the dog was gone everything that had just happened felt so surreal. Was he really just almost assaulted on the street by a strange homeless looking man and then saved by a weirdly sentient dog? Rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hand he sat back up and shook his head. No matter how weird all of that had been he still had homework to do, not to mention he needed to figure out what to do with Kyoutani.

Hmm, maybe he could bring up the fact that he had seen a dog with a weirdly striking resemblance to the ace, though definitely had a better personality. Yahaba laughed at himself. That sounded crazy, and making Kyoutani think he was crazy wasn’t likely to help much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been sitting on this fic for like, honestly years now and my brain has finally deemed it time. I'm planning on uploading about once a week or so, so feel free to yell at me if im late (it motivates me lol). I've got a lot planned for this so I hope you enjoy this au as much as I do! (Also fair warning ratings and tags are likely to change as this goes on, so be sure to check those as I post new chapters. I'll also try to put a note in when I do that)  
> Come talk to me on Tumblr!


	2. Coincidence

Standing in the locker room the next morning Yahaba’s hands came to a rest in his bag instead of pulling out his kneepads like they were supposed to be doing. The more time that passed the more he wasn’t entirely sure he hadn’t just imagined everything yesterday. He had told his parents about everything, and while they had waved off the weird dog they called the police about the strange man that had practically assaulted him. An officer had come to the house for his statement, but basically just told him to be careful and to go straight to the police if the man bothered him again. He couldn’t help but look over his shoulder the entire walk to school but luckily didn’t see the man again. It _had_ felt as though someone was watching him, but the presence had felt watchful not chilling, and he couldn’t help but feel like it was his new guardian though he never caught sight of the dog. Its presence had been comforting nonetheless.

He glanced over at Kyoutani who was currently yawning as he pulled on his gym shirt. He had arrived later than usual and Yahaba wondered if he had overslept. Hopefully that wouldn’t affect his mood too much, though Yahaba was fairly certain it would. He still hadn’t thought of how to deal with that situation either, even after combing his brain after dinner last night.

“Hey Yahaba.” Yahaba jumped, pulling himself back to the present and snapping his head towards Iwaizumi who at some point had come to stand beside him and was looking at him with concern. “You alright?”

Forcing a smile on his face Yahaba resumed pulling out his kneepads. “Yeah I’m fine. Just a lot on my mind.” Iwaizumi didn’t look entirely convinced, still eyeing him as if looking for any sign that he was anything but fine but let it slide.

“All right, but if there’s anything I can do just let me know.” He started to walk away when Yahaba stopped him.

“Actually there is something I wanted to ask you.” Iwaizumi turned back to him. Yahaba glanced back at Kyoutani, hoping he wasn’t near enough to overhear but luckily he was already heading out of the locker room and toward the gym. Turning back to Iwaizumi who was now raising an eyebrow at him he started. “Okay so, obviously Kyoutani and I are struggling to communicate, and it’s going to really start affecting the team if we can’t get it figured out.” Iwaizumi nodded in agreement. “Watari suggested I get to know him better outside of volleyball but I have no idea where to start and I was wondering if you had any suggestions?”

“Me?” Iwaizumi looked taken aback.

“Well, yeah.” Yahaba pressed on even though Iwaizumi looked much how he felt whenever anyone said much the same to him. “You get along with him better than anyone else.” Iwaizumi shook his head.

“He respects me more than anyone else, but we don’t exactly get along.” Yahaba’s heart sank, Iwaizumi was his last option. If he couldn’t help then no one could.

“But,”

Yahaba’s eyes darted up to Iwaizumi’s face, hope returning.

“I do have an idea. Instead of trying to figure him out from a distance just tell him all of this.”

Yahaba stood staring blankly at Iwaizumi.

“Umm, come again?”

Iwaizumi laughed, “Just walk up to him and explain that you think getting to know each other better off court will help improve your teamwork. I know it’s hard to tell but he wants to work things out to and cares just as much about this team coming together as you do.” Yahaba raised an eyebrow at him doubtfully and Iwaizumi smiled. “Okay maybe not quite as much but he does care is my point.”

Yahaba groaned. “This sounds like an awful plan but, it’s the best awful plan I’ve got so I guess I’ll try it.” Slapping him on the back with a grin Iwaizumi walked past him.

“Good! Now hurry up we’re going to be late!”

The day passes and Yahaba never gets the chance to speak with Kyoutani. (He definitely isn’t avoiding that conversation) Kyoutani was tired and grumpy during practice but seemed to at least be attempting to hold his tongue, to Yahaba at least. It was a little unnerving to be honest but he wasn’t going to complain and it was proof that he really was trying, if only a little. And Yahaba could work with that.

But now it’s the end of the day and Watari is walking away from him now and suddenly yesterday’s encounter is fresh in his mind again. The man had sounded like he wanted something from him. Would he show up again today looking for him? Reaching into his bag he fishes out his phone so that it he can call the police in a moment’s notice. All of his senses are on high alert as he scrutinizes every person he passes. He’s so focused on the people around him he doesn’t notice the large yellow dog trotting up to him until it barks deeply a few feet from him causing him to jump but he instantly relaxes once he recognizes the dog.

“Hey there!” He smiled kneeling down to pet it. It sniffs at him inspectingly before relaxing into the strokes of Yahaba’s hand. “Gonna walk me home again bud?” The dog looked away as if embarrassed to be called out on it except it wasn’t because it was a dog that didn’t understand humans and couldn’t have such reactions. Honestly Yahaba was starting to become concerned with his own sanity.

They finished the walk home much more relaxed and without incident. Once reaching his home Yahaba paused, he didn’t want the dog to leave yet. Thinking it over for a moment he decided he could afford to play with it for a bit so he opened the gate wide and stepped inside.

“C’mere boy!” He called gesturing with his hands for the dog to follow. It stood out on the side walk hesitant, looking back and forth between Yahaba and the road back. “Come on, I just want to play for a bit!” Looking around quickly he brightened as he found a stick and lifted it for the dog to see. Ears pricking and tail lifting it seemed to walk forward in spite of itself and Yahaba grinned.

By the time Yahaba’s mom got home the golden dog was panting heavily and Yahaba was even a little out of breath with how much fun they were having. After learning the dog’s identity she thanked it for taking care of her son and gave it a pat on the head before reminding Yahaba that he had other things to do besides play with stray dogs and disappeared into the house.

Sitting in the grass Yahaba looked over the dog lying next to him contentedly chewing on the second stick they had found (they had broken the first during a tug of war match). No longer was he acting stiff and on guard, a few minutes into playing fetch his tail began to wag and he appeared completely relaxed as he ran, jumped and rolled around Yahaba’s yard. He actually seemed like a normal dog for the first time since Yahaba had met him and he was starting to believe that he really had just imagined its weird quirks before.

“All right Ken-chan I’ve got to go.”

Ears pricking the dog whipped its head around to look at Yahaba and give him what could only be a look of dumbstruck surprise. Ok so maybe he hadn’t imagined anything.

Looking away from the intense gaze Yahaba laughed nervously, “I know I probably shouldn’t give you a name, but it suits you.” His eyes flickered down to the dark rings around his neck and then back up to his intense golden gaze. The name may have been inspired by someone.

Ken-chan flicks an ear at this answer, standing and shaking out his fur and regarding Yahaba with an expression Yahaba can’t decipher. Yahaba stands too giving Ken-chan a final rub that sends his tail wagging again. He turns his head and gives Yahaba a gentle nip on the hand before trotting off and disappearing out of his yard leaving Yahaba to smile fondly after him.

The next morning he causes a small commotion when he steps yawning into the locker room. Or at least he assumes he’s the one who causes it but he’s not entirely sure why. Iwaizumi and Oikawa look up at him in surprise before turning quickly to Kyoutani for some reason. Oikawa seemed smug but Iwaizumi looked dead serious as he seemed to quietly scold a quickly reddening Kyoutani. Which itself was a sight to see because for once instead of angry he seemed, embarrassed? Continuing on to his locker Yahaba tried to pretend that all of that wasn’t caused by him because why would it be? But he had a nagging feeling that somehow he was involved. Kyoutani was more distant than usual with him during practice and Oikawa seemed to be quietly pestering him whenever he got the chance and Iwaizumi was constantly scolding both of them. In the end practice was very unsuccessful. Noticing this their coach let them out a little early but told them to come to the afternoons practice ready to get back to work.

With the extra bit of time before classes started Yahaba forced up the courage to talk to Kyoutani, catching him before he entered the main building.

“What’s up?” Kyoutani asked as gruffly as usual, eyes not quite meeting his which _was_ unusual. Yahaba didn’t know what Oikawa and Iwaizumi had been bugging him about earlier, but it must have been a big deal to have been affecting him this much.

“Umm, would you like to eat lunch with me and Watari?”

Golden eyes jumped to brown as he looked at Yahaba with an expression all too similar to the one Ken-chan had given him yesterday when he had given him his name. “Why?” He asked incredulously, voice shaking a bit and Yahaba wasn’t sure what he had done to freak him out but quickly tried to rectify it.

“Well, I just figured it would be good to hang out more outside of practice? Because we are supposed to be a team and at this rate I’m not sure we’ll be able to become a functioning team by next year.” Kyoutani visibly began to relax but still looked uncertain.

“Okay, but how will eating lunch together help?” He asked crossing his arms.

“Iwaizumi suggested it might help, and I sure as hell couldn’t think of a better idea.”

That wasn’t entirely true, but Yahaba had a feeling if he brought Iwaizumi’s name up Kyoutani was going to be more likely to agree. Kyoutani took a moment to think about it, finger tapping on his arm, and Yahaba was reminded again that as much as they didn’t get along Kyoutani definitely seemed to want to make things work, even if neither of them knew how.

Finally he sighed and dropped his arms. “All right, if Iwaizumi thinks it’s a good idea we can try it, but I don’t really see how this will help.”

“Great!” Yahaba grinned.

Lunch had been a spur of the moment decision but it ended up being a fantastic idea. Having Watari there as a buffer helped to keep things from getting too awkward, and since they were eating there wasn’t all that pressure to fill the air with conversation. They talked about classes and complained about teachers. Yahaba had tried to refrain from talking about volleyball but considering all of them practically lived and breathed it, eventually it came up. And from there Watari asked what Iwaizumi and Oikawa had talked with him about to set him off this morning and suddenly Kyoutani lit up almost as red as he had this morning and turned away grumbled, “Nothing.” and looked very much like he wanted the subject to drop. Watari being the nosy guy he was pressed on.

“Doesn’t seem like nothing. You couldn’t concentrate at all this morning.”

Kyoutani was still stubbornly turning away as if he ignored them long enough they would leave him alone. But Watari wasn’t in the mood for backing down and Yahaba was curious too, he was still fairly certain it had something to do with him, so they both leaned in expectantly. Kyoutani glanced over to Yahaba and deepened half a shade and, okay this definitely had something to do with him. Huffing and rolling his eyes he relented.

“Okay fine it wasn’t nothing. But it doesn’t have anything to do with volleyball and is definitely none of your business.”

It didn’t really answer anything but sounded honest enough so the other two backed off, Watari quickly changed the subject to something Matsukawa had said earlier but Yahaba was only half listening. _Doesn’t have to do with volleyball?_ What were Iwaizumi and Oikawa talking to him about if it didn’t have to do with volleyball?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of your comments have made me so happy and I hope you all enjoy this new chapter!
> 
> Come talk to me on Tumblr!


	3. Suspicions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! 2018 has been A YEAR, and I lost the motivation to write for a bit. Thank you to everyone who has commented and stuck with me, just for you this chapter is twice as long as normal to make up for the delay! Enjoy!
> 
> (also this story is un-beta'd and the longer it gets the more likely I'll be to mess up so if you notice anything feel free to tell me!)

A new routine had settled itself into Yahaba’s life and it was quite the improvement in his opinion. Kyoutani sat with them for lunch all the time now and even though things were still a bit awkward from time to time the three of them were actually starting to become friends. And afterschool Ken-chan would walk him home. At first he wouldn’t appear until after Watari had split off towards his house, but about a week into their new routine he began bounding up to them not too far from the school and even allowed Watari to pet him. Yahaba hadn’t yet told his friends about his new four legged friend but Watari was too busy being excited about befriending the dog to care too much about why it appeared in Yahaba’s life. When asked for it’s name Yahaba flushed but gave it anyway and Watari laughed heartily and looked the dog over again. “Yeah, I can see that.” Yahaba insisted that they don’t tell Kyoutani about it and after some teasing Watari agreed. True to his word when Watari brought it up at lunch the next day he omitted the name of the dog. Kyoutani acted mildly interested in the story but almost seemed like he would prefer to change the subject, which was strange because usually when pets were brought up Kyoutani became more talkative in a way that Yahaba definitely didn’t find cute. Maybe endearing, yeah that’s a better word.

He glanced from the paper in his lap to Ken-chan who was dozing beside him in the grass while he did homework, _he_ definitely could be described as cute. He had a full plate of homework tonight but he hadn’t been in a rush to shoo his new friend off so he had compromised by doing it outside today. The fresh air was good for him anyway. For a while the dog had busied itself exploring his yard and occasionally bringing back a stick trying to entice Yahaba into playing, but had settled next to him once he realized the boy wasn’t going to be giving him his full attention today.

Ken-chan’s head popped up and turned to the front door a full twenty seconds before his mom opened it and poked her head out.

“Shigeru are you still- oh there you are. What are you doing?”

“Math homework.” He answered simply, raising the paper off his lap as proof.

“But why are you outside?” Yahaba shrugged and reached over to pet Ken-chan.

“Wanted a study buddy.” Ken-chan’s tail started lightly beating against his side.

His mom stared at them for a moment and seemed to be debating something with herself. Finally she appeared to come to a decision.

“Well you know, it would probably be more comfortable inside.”

At first Yahaba thought she was just trying to politely force him inside, but when she smiled and opened the door wide he got what she meant.

“Really?”

“Sure. We’re not keeping him,” She reminded sternly, “But I don’t mind if he comes in the house now and then. As long as you clean up after him, he is a stray.” She seemed to almost be talking herself out of it so Yahaba quickly grabbed his things and jumped up.

“Will do mom!”

With a small smile his mom retreated back into the house leaving the door open for them. Halfway to the door Yahaba realized he wasn’t being followed. Looking back Ken-chan was still lying in the grass, ears flicked back and something in his expression made Yahaba want to comfort him. Kneeling down he called out to him and the dog quickly trotted over and accepted Yahaba’s attention.

“It’s okay,” Yahaba murmured ruffling the dogs fur gently, “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

Standing back up he walked to the front door before looking back. Ken-chan was still sitting where he had left him looking back and forth between Yahaba and the ground as if deciding what he wanted to do. With bated breath Yahaba waited in the doorway for the dog to make a decision.

Finally with a great shake of his fur Ken-chan jumped up and trotted over happily, tail wagging and tongue lolling as it strode past Yahaba into the house. Smiling fondly at the now happy dog Yahaba quickly closed the door and led him to his room where Ken-chan quickly made himself at home and jumped onto Yahaba’s bed. Settling down next to him on the bed Yahaba pulled his homework back out and got back to work, one hand absent-mindedly stroking Ken-chan’s fur.

About half an hour later Ken-chan popped off the bed and scratched at the door looking back at Yahaba.

“You’re ready to go huh?” He asked, smiling fondly as the dog scratched at his door again in reply. As soon as he opened the door the dog trotted through the house straight to the front door and scratched at that one as well. “Yeah yeah, I know I’m coming.” They walked side-by-side out the front door to the gate. Once it was open Ken-chan only paused a moment to nuzzle at Yahaba’s hand for a quick pet before running off. Yahaba’s mother was standing in the hallway when he re-entered the house, drying her hands with a dish towel.

“Are you sure that dogs a stray? I wouldn’t expect a stray to know to scratch on doors to be let out.”

Yahaba smirked to himself. “I know, sometimes he can be ridiculously smart. I don’t even think he’s actually a dog most of the time.”

He and his mother laughed at the thought.

Not everything about Yahaba’s new routine was sunshine and rainbows unfortunately. Iwaizumi had started acting strangely lately, the usually fair upperclassmen had started treating Kyoutani harshly, scolding him often and sending him disapproving looks almost constantly. He had even snapped at Yahaba once when he asked about it, though he had apologized afterword.

“I’m sorry it’s not your fault I’m just,” his brows furrowed as he grasped for the right words. “frustrated with him.”

That struck Yahaba as odd because, “But he’s been doing better lately! I did like you said and we’ve started having lunch together with Watari and, I mean we’ve got a long way to go but I think we’re really starting to communicate better!” He couldn’t help but get a little bit defensive. Kyoutani was still annoying as hell on the court, but since they had started having lunch together they had both started to become more patient with each other. Yahaba had come to realize that Kyoutani often took his time to speak and tried to give him time to answer even when his answers just pissed Yahaba off. And now whenever Kyoutani really lost his cool he was always the first one to come back and apologize which Yahaba appreciated way more than he thought he would and always returned the apology and they never ended a practice mad at each other. Their progress was going to be slow but it was there, they both wanted this to work.

But Iwaizumi just shook his head. “I agree you guys are improving but that’s not the problem with you two.”

“What does that mean?” Yahaba asked with a raise of his brow. Iwaizumi looked taken aback and quickly began backpedaling.

“Nothing never mind.” He said in a clipped tone and tried to walk away.

“But what-”

“I’ve already said too much.” His tone was so final that Yahaba let it drop, watching him walk away more confused than ever. His eyes wandered over to Kyoutani who was practicing his receives with the others. Did this have something to do with what Kyoutani had said before? _Doesn’t have anything to do with volleyball._ He was more curious than ever as to what could cause Iwaizumi to treat his underclassman this way, but neither of them wanted to talk about it. _Unless_ , his eyes flicked over to Oikawa. He seemed to know what was going on too. Maybe he would talk.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” Or not. Yahaba had pulled him aside at the end of practice under the guise of needing some more captainly advice (Oikawa would never reject an opportunity to give someone his advice) but once asked what the other two were talking about he immediately pulled on one of his best fake smiles.

“I’ve known you long enough to know when you are lying Oikawa.” Oikawa’s grin turned sincere.

“And I’m proud of you for that. But Iwa-chan’s right he did say too much and unfortunately it’s really none of your business.” He paused and flashed Yahaba a wicked grin. “Yet.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Yahaba all but shouted but Oikawa was already leaving, laughing to himself with a shrug and leaving Yahaba more confused than ever.

Usually once afternoon practice was done Kyoutani disappeared almost immediately (they had asked him about it before and he had claimed that he had things to do at home) but today Iwaizumi stopped him, asking to speak with him in private. Obviously irritated Kyoutani stood with his arms crossed, his fingers drumming against his arm as he waited for Iwaizumi to finish getting changed.

“Good luck with Iwaizumi, I don’t know what you did to piss him off but try not to make it worse.” Yahaba teased as he and Watari were leaving the clubroom. Kyoutani huffed a laugh, his stiff arms relaxing. (Yahaba’s heart in no way skipped a beat at hearing that sound. Not At All.)

“Thanks, I’ll probably need it.”

“Just try not to bite him and you’ll be fine.” Watari gave him a friendly punch that Kyoutani shrugged off with a glare with almost zero heat behind it. “Now come on, I wanna go pet your dog!” Watari exclaimed shoving on Yahaba’s arm.

For a brief second Kyoutani looked panicked, before schooling his features into what was probably meant to look relaxed but was far too stiff.

“You really should walk home with us sometime,” Watari continued, “he’s the sweetest thing. Could probably even make you drop that ‘tough-guy’ attitude.” Watari teased with a wave of his fingers in Kyoutani’s face.

“Shut up.” Kyoutani punched him, harder than Watari had done but still light enough that Watari just laughed at him, but his cheeks had turned a dusty red. Okay, maybe Kyoutani can be cute.

Once they were outside Yahaba started complaining to Watari about how everyone was keeping this big secret from him.

“Like, I get everyone has secrets and that’s fine but it’s affecting the team and therefore I feel like we should get to know. Especially if Oikawa thinks I’ll know about it eventually! Just tell me now then!” Yahaba huffed throwing his hands up. Watari just shrugged, seemingly not all that interested.

“With Oikawa involved I’m not surprised, he is one for the ‘dramatics’. Probably thinks it’s fun to keep you in the dark.” Yahaba grumbled at that, he wouldn’t put it past Oikawa to keep things from him just to see how long it would take him to figure it out himself. Actually that’s almost undoubtedly what he’s doing. “Besides Iwaizumi’s talking with him right now, maybe they’re finally sorting whatever it is out.”

“I hope so, it’s weird seeing Iwaizumi so riled up at someone other than Oikawa.”

Watari laughed at that, then suddenly stopped and looked around.

“Hey, where’s Ken-chan?”

It was then that Yahaba realized that they had made it all the way to the intersection where their paths split, and the big yellow dog was still nowhere to be seen.

“Huh, guess he’s not showing up today.”

“Well,” Watari shrugged, “He is a stray after all.”

“I hope he’s okay.”

“I’m sure he’s fine. Though I am disappointed that I won’t get to pet him today! I’ll have to pet him extra tomorrow!”

Laughing they said goodbye and continued their walks home, and even though he kept an eye out for him Yahaba didn’t see the dog at all and by the time he made it home he was in a sour mood. He was sure Ken-chan could take care of himself and was probably fine, but couldn’t help but worry a little. And now that he was in his room alone he couldn’t help but think about what was happening between Kyoutani and Iwaizumi. He hoped Watari was right and they were currently working their issues out, but something about the way they had been acting made him suspect otherwise. Normally Kyoutani listened to whatever Iwaizumi said, so for him to have been making Iwaizumi so upset meant it was probably something serious. And he knew better than anyone how stubborn Kyoutani was.

So he was surprised when he got to morning practice and Iwaizumi seemed to be in a significantly better mood.

“Hey, how did the talk with Iwaizumi go yesterday?” He asked Kyoutani while they changed into their gym clothes. Kyoutani huffed a little as he pulled on his shirt.

“He’s off my back for the moment.”

“Just for the moment?” Yahaba couldn’t help the smirk on his face and Kyoutani grinned back.

“Yeah, I agreed to his compromise for now but that doesn’t mean I won’t piss him off again. I have that affect on people.”

Yahaba laughed at that, he couldn’t agree more. Although Kyoutani didn’t seem to have that affect on him anymore. But then the rest of what he said clicked into place.

“Wait, compromise? On what?”

Kyoutani stiffened and looked away, and Yahaba got the feeling he hadn’t meant to share that.

“Uhh, nothing.”

“Well obviously it’s something.”

“Yeah well it’s nothing that involves you.”

That made Yahaba groan in frustration. “Everyone keeps saying that! But at this point I feel pretty involved.”

“Well just because you feel that way doesn’t make it true.”

“Oikawa seems to think I’m involved.”

At this point Yahaba was just saying things to get a reaction and boy did those words do the trick. Kyoutani’s demeanor went from stiff and uncomfortable to hard and angry in the blink of an eye, quickly sending a glare over to their captain who waved cheerfully in response.

“What did he say to you?” Kyoutani’s voice was low as he leaned in closer, still glaring at Oikawa. Yahaba hadn’t been expecting this reaction at all. Up until now Iwaizumi had been the one all angry about whatever their situation was and Kyoutani had seemed mostly uncaring about the whole thing. The fact that he was so upset about the possibility of Yahaba finding out about whatever it was only made Yahaba want to know even more.  

But he didn’t. He sighed and said as much.

“Nothing. When I asked him what was up with you guys he said the same ‘it’s none of your business’ that you’ve been spouting. He just also implied that it might become my business.”

Kyoutani’s glare somehow became even darker and Oikawa’s self-preservation seemed to finally kick in because he quickly shoved the rest of the third years out the door and escaped Kyoutani’s wrath for the moment. Shaking his head Kyoutani finally turned back to Yahaba, the fire in his gaze softer now.

“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

“But-”

“C’mon, we’ve got practice.” Kyoutani interrupted and proceeded to ignore all of his protests as he shoved him out of the clubroom.

They didn’t get a chance to talk again until lunch, and Kyoutani completely distracted him by asking to hang out after school. Watari choked on his drink and Yahaba nearly dropped his lunch.

“Really?!”

Kyoutani had seemed embarrassed enough just from asking, and their reactions obviously made it worse as his face turned a brilliant shade of red as he twisted his hands in his lap, his face turned completely away from them.

“If you don’t want to I-”

“That’s not it!” Yahaba quickly interjected, waving his arms frantically as Watari nodded enthusiastically, not quite able to speak yet.

“We’re just surprised is all, seems a little out of character for you.” Watari’s voice was a little raspy but he seemed to have recovered from inhaling his drink. Kyoutani glanced at his friends, head still stubbornly pointing away.

“But that’s seriously a good idea!” Yahaba was trying to recover from his shock as fast as he could to reassure Kyoutani. “You could help me with that literature assignment we just got, you’re good at that right?” Kyoutani started to relax, finally facing forward again with a small smile on his face.

“Yeah, I’m surprised you remembered that.” Yahaba beamed back.

“Of course I did!”

“Yeah, cuz he’s awful at it and has been waiting to use you ever since he found out you got straight A’s.” Watari stage whispered to Kyoutani, dodging as Yahaba reached out to smack him.

“Not true! I remembered because I’m a good friend!”

He looked to Kyoutani for support, but was met with a blank look.

“You totally only remembered because you were hoping to take advantage of it.”

“Mean!” Yahaba aimed a swing at Kyoutani now, who he hit but mostly because Kyoutani was laughing too hard to care about dodging. It was the most he had ever seen Kyoutani genuinely laugh, and for a second he couldn’t help but be distracted by the curve of his mouth and the rough sound of it.

“…..you guys are mean.” He mumbled, still a little star stuck. Clearing his throat he finally forced himself to look away, only to see Watari smirking at him, eyebrow raised. Shit.

“Well,” He started and Yahaba was already apprehensive of what he was about to say. “as much fun as watching you try and teach this idiot-“

“Hey!”

“- would be, I can’t hang out tonight.”

Kyoutani just shrugged but Yahaba squinted at his friend. “Why?”

“My mom asked me to help her with errands tonight.” He said with conviction and held Yahaba’s gaze as if asking him to call his bluff. Yahaba let it drop, making a mental note to ask him about it later.

The bell rang, making all three of them jump having completely lost track of time. At the end of afternoon practice Kyoutani walked up to Yahaba, still looking unsure.

“You sure it’s okay if I come over tonight?”

“Yeah!” Yahaba smiled, “Watari drops over unannounced all the time, they even let Ke- my stray dog in the house, so my parents definitely won’t mind.” _Shit that was close._

“I don’t know,” Oikawa appeared out of nowhere, “they may have let in a cute puppy, but they’ll probably turn away a Mad Dog.” He smirked while patting Kyoutani on the head because he had a death wish apparently. “I mean look how scary he is?” At this point Kyoutani looked like he was seriously thinking about murdering Oikawa so for everyone’s safety Yahaba shoved him away.

“Ha ha very funny Oikawa, don’t you have friends you can bother instead?” As he opened his mouth to answer Iwaizumi, Hanamaki and Matsukawa all shouted, “No he doesn’t.” It did the trick though, as Oikawa pouted and returned to his friends to yell at them for being mean to him in front of the underclassmen.

“But seriously,” Yahaba continued, trying to erase the damage Oikawa had done, “it won’t be a problem at all.”

“Plus!” Watari jumped in, apparently ready to go with his bag slung over his shoulder. “You’ll finally get to meet said cute puppy! If he shows up today.”

Again at the mention of the dog Kyoutani tensed and turned away, looking very uncomfortable as he answered stiltedly. “Yeah, I hope so, after hearing you guys talk him up. Can’t wait to meet him.” Yahaba thought otherwise but kept it to himself.  

But Watari was disappointed again because their furry friend was missing for the second day in a row.

“Huh… yeah, I wonder where he is?” Watari immediately went off on his stray-dog tangent about how he was sure he had just wandered too far, but Yahaba barely heard him because something about the way Kyoutani had said that made him think he knew something they didn’t. He hadn’t sounded surprised at all, and had gotten all stiff again. But what the hell could he know about this that Yahaba didn’t? And why would he keep whatever it was from them? Before he could think too hard on it he was brought back to the present by Watari.

“-but with how devoted Ken-chan has been I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”

Watari didn’t seem to realize what he had said but Yahaba flushed immediately as Kyoutani looked taken aback for a moment before smirking at Yahaba. “Ken-chan?” He asked simply.

It was then Watari caught on. “Oh, sorry, Yahaba didn’t want me to tell you that.”

“Why not?” Kyoutani replied without looking away from Yahaba and honestly if he could die from embarrassment he probably would.

“I, well, I didn’t want to weird you out.” Yahaba was looking everywhere but at Kyoutani, but he saw the boys smirk widen anyway.

“But to be fair, for a dog he looks a lot like you. Like, down to the bad hairstyle.” That finally got Kyoutani’s attention off of him as he turned to punch Watari and Yahaba could finally breathe again. For that save Yahaba figured Watari was forgiven for slipping up. He wasn’t off the hook for anything else though.

After that he figured the rest of the walk without Watari was going to be awkward, but the silence that fell over them was comfortable and familiar in a way Yahaba couldn’t quite place. They talked about their days a little and Yahaba was struck by how far they had come. Just a few weeks ago their main form of communication was arguing and now Kyoutani was coming over to hang out as friends, he was proud of them. At this point he had almost forgotten all of the weird things around Kyoutani lately. Almost. Until they reached his house and he seemed to know which one it was before Yahaba said anything. There was just something in his eyes as the house came into view, a look of recognition, and maybe some hesitation? Which okay, maybe Yahaba had imagined that. They both called out greetings as they entered the house, and his mom quickly rounded the corner.

“Who’s this?”

“Kyoutani Kentarou ma’am.”

“Oh the infamous Kyoutani. I wish I could say I’ve only heard good things but…” She shrugged and Yahaba flushed, was everyone intent on embarrassing him in front of Kyoutani today?

Luckily Kyoutani just laughed. “Yeah I guess I haven’t made things easy for him. Just giving our future captain some practice for next year.” He joked and Yahaba could tell his mother was already taking a liking to him as she smiled.

“I’ll make you boys some snacks. Will you be staying for dinner?”

“Not tonight.” He looked a little uncomfortable at the thought. Yahaba’s mom just smiled warmly at him.

“Some other time then. Just tell me ahead of time so I can buy enough food.”

“Yes mom.” Yahaba leaned in and gave his mom a hug before following Kyoutani to his room, that is until he froze when he realized Kyoutani, who had never been to his house before, immediately found said room with zero directions. And that was definitely weird and Yahaba had no way to explain it. Quickly unfreezing himself he all but ran to his room to find Kyoutani looking all too at home on his bed. Kyoutani raised an eyebrow at him as he lingered in the doorway.

“What?”

“How, how did you know which room was mine?”

And there was that damn look again, Kyoutani stiffening and looking away was becoming a regular thing.

“Uh, lucky guess?” He offered. Yahaba wasn’t buying it. But he let it drop because really what other answer could there be? Because Kyoutani had never been to his house before. Unless-

“So, you want to start with lit then?” Kyoutani was clearly looking for a change of topic but Yahaba allowed it. Mostly because it hurt his head to think about. He was dying to grill Kyoutani on his weird reactions lately and about whatever it was between him and Iwaizumi, but he also recognized that today was kind of a big step for them. He wanted it to go well. So he pushed it all to the back of his mind for the moment and focused on their homework and tried not to focus too much on how nice it was to have Kyoutani in his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come talk to me on Tumblr! I'm Loralyi there as well!


	4. Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, I have no excuse. But I love this chapter so I hope you do too!

Usually Watari didn’t join him on their morning walk to school because he slept in later than Yahaba did, because as future captain Yahaba had to be at morning practice early because blah blah whatever Oikawa said. But today Watari was there waiting for him, practically bouncing in place on the sidewalk with energy he normally didn’t have in the morning. Yahaba quirked an eyebrow as he approached.

“What’s got you so excited this morning?” Yahaba asked, wary of whatever had his friend acting so out of character. Watari gave him an evil grin that put him even more on edge.

“How’d it go?” He sing-songed, waggling his eyebrows.

“How’d what go?”

“Your study date.” Watari winked conspiratorially at him.

Face heating Yahaba tried to keep his composure. “It, it wasn’t a, a date-”

“Mm-hmm, sure.” Watari nodded in faux agreement and Yahaba felt like punching him.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing, nothing. Just trying to be supportive.”

“Of what?”

“My best friend’s big fat crush on Kyoutani Kentarou.” Watari grinned wide as Yahaba flushed bright red.

“I-I do not have a-” He cut himself off as Watari gave him a deadpan look, as if he could see right through his lies. Except he wasn’t lying! He didn’t have a- crush- on Kyoutani! He could barely be in the same gym as him a few weeks ago! They were friends now, but that was it. Just friends! Kyoutani still annoyed the shit out of him, and just because he liked the sound of his laugh or the cute way he yawned in the morning looking still half asleep, or the soft smiles he had started receiving from him now that they were getting along, or how empty his room felt after he left – 

“Oh my god” His voice was barely a whisper but Watari heard him anyway.

“What?” He pitched his voice up to sound genuine, but the smirk gave him away.

“Oh my GOD, Watari!” He slammed his hands on Watari’s shoulders and looked him in the eye, completely serious. “I think I have a crush on Kyoutani.”

Watari fake gasped. “What? Really? I never would have guessed! Oh wait, yes I would and I did and I literally just told you that.” Yahaba was now looking mildly horrified and Watari couldn’t help but laugh. “Did you seriously only just now realize that? I thought you knew.” Watari shrugged him off and they continued walking again as Yahaba shook his head.

“Of course not! He’s… Kyoutani!” He gestured wildly, arms flailing in front of him.

Watari burst out laughing. “Yup, he sure is!” But Yahaba still looked like he was in the middle of an existential crisis so he stifled his laughter. “Dude it’s not that big of a deal.”

“It is! How am I supposed to act around him now?!”

“Well hopefully you can control yourself a little now that you know about it. Though who am I kidding, you’re definitely going to be worse.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Dude.”

“What?”

“The other day he laughed and you stared at him all lovesick for so long I was half afraid you had a stroke.”

Yahaba hadn’t thought his face could get any hotter but it somehow managed. He buried his face in his hands. “Oh my god I KNOW. I’m so screwed.”

“Seriously though, how did you not realize this until now?”

“I was purposefully not thinking about it.” Yahaba replied easily, though only just now realizing that he had in fact been avoiding thinking about the warm feelings Kyoutani gave him. 

“Sorry about that, but like, I thought you were being obvious on purpose at this point.”

“Wait, is that why you didn’t come over last night?”

Watari just shrugged with a wry smile. “You have no proof. Other than the fact that I am the best best friend ever.”

“And that you’re a huge gossip that was way too eager to talk about it this morning.”

“Ah!” Watari perked up and grabbed onto Yahaba’s shoulder. “You distracted me with your whole revelation. How did it go last night?”

“Well not as well as you had probably been imagining.” Yahaba sighed, but then smiled as he thought back on the previous evening. “It was nice.”

“Ew. You’re doing it again.”

Flushing Yahaba smacked him as he laughed. “Shut up!”

“Sorry!” He didn’t look sorry. 

“I can’t help it, I don’t even realize I’m doing it.”

“Well you better learn how to stop it unless you want the whole team to know.” 

They were entering the school grounds, and Yahaba might have started panicking because it was too soon. He needed more time to adjust to the fact that, yeah, he really did have a crush on Kyoutani, so that he could compose himself. Right now he was still freaking out, he couldn’t handle seeing Kyoutani right now in front of the whole team! Surely someone would notice, hell Watari already had and that was before he had even realized his feelings! He hesitated a few feet from the clubroom door, a few beats away from full blown panicking. Watari stopped beside him, looking serious for the first time all morning.

“I’m going to make a fool of myself.” Yahaba said quietly.

“Hey,” Watari patted his shoulder. “You already have.”

Glaring Yahaba smacked his arm away, but Watari just laughed.

“But seriously, just breathe. The teams here for you. I’m here for you. Nothing’s really changed, just your perception of it. Today is just like any other day. Focus on practice like you usually do and you’ll be fine.”

Yahaba took a deep, still slightly shaky breath and gave Watari a small smile, “Thanks.” Watari had successfully cleared away a lot of his tension. Shaking out his tense muscles he took a deep breath and pushed open the door to the clubroom.

The room was relatively empty, it was still early, with only themselves and a handful of the third years sitting on the benches not yet changed into their gym clothes, seemingly just hanging out and enjoying a few moments of free time. He hadn’t really expected Kyoutani to be there yet, but getting the confirmation allowed Yahaba to relax and let out the breath he hadn’t even realized he had been holding.

“See?” Watari nudged him. “No big deal. You even get a little more time to prepare yourself.” 

As they made their way to their lockers Oikawa popped up and bee-lined over to them. Yahaba didn’t know what he wanted but had a feeling it was nothing good.

“What’s got you so stressed this morning?” He asked, fluttering his eyelashes. Definitely up to no good. 

“Nothing, I’ve got it handled.” Yahaba was doing his utmost best to not look at Oikawa, because he was fairly certain he could read your mind if you looked him in the eye. 

“Can’t be nothing if you’ve ‘handled’ whatever it was.” Oikawa mused. He brought his hand to his chin. “Hmm, let me think.” Oh no, all of the tension Watari had managed to alleviate was back full force tying his guts in knots. He really didn’t want to do this right now, but after dealing with Oikawa this long he knew he wasn’t likely to get out of this. Hopefully he can feign enough innocence that Oikawa will get bored.

“Does it have to do with Mad-Dog-chan?”

Well there goes that plan.

“Ooh it does! Look at how red you got!” His voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. “I’ll drop it for now but you’re giving me details later.”

“Oikawa,” Yahaba groaned, “there’s really nothing–” The clubroom door swung open immediately catching his attention, but it was just a couple of first years. Relaxing a bit he turned back to Oikawa who was grinning madly as if he knew more than he did and with a wink returned to his friends. Yahaba rubbed his face and let out a long sigh. 

“It’s seriously scary how fast he catches on to things.” Watari remarked as he pulled his t-shirt over his head.

“Yeah, well, according to you I’ve been obvious about it so for once I guess it’s not that surprising.” Yahaba grumbled back. He quickly changed and the two of them went to the gym a bit earlier than necessary just to avoid seeing Kyoutani a bit longer. As they started their warm-up routine the familiar task helped to ground Yahaba and he felt his stress melt away as his muscles warmed. By the time Kyoutani showed up just shy of being on time he felt nothing more than a warm stirring in his stomach that was easy enough to ignore for the moment.

Morning practice went just as smoothly as Watari had assured him it would and with that success under his belt Yahaba was actually looking forward to lunch, even if he was fairly certain a so-called best friend was planning on meddling more than necessary. Watari would mean well, and if he could make a certain grouchy boy flustered it would be worth the personal embarrassment. Just the thought of a blushing Kyoutani had his heart fluttering. 

Unfortunately his fantasy was over before it could start, because the instant the lunch bell rang Oikawa was at the door ushering him over with a face that screamed trouble. With a heavy sigh he told Watari not to wait for him and followed an unusually quiet Oikawa to an empty classroom.

Oikawa wasted no time, the moment the door closed he rounded on Yahaba. “So? What’s the deal with Kyoutani?” He asked with a sly smile and waggling eyebrows. Taking a step back from his obnoxious friend Yahaba crossed his arms with a huff.

“There is no ‘deal’ with Kyoutani.”

“But he was at your house last night right?”

He couldn’t help the instantaneous flush, which made him look less intimidating than he would have liked when he fired back, “How do you know that?”

“Lucky guess.” Oikawa shrugged, trying very much to look innocent but Yahaba knew him well enough to know that there was something he was holding back. Again.

“Yeah sure. Y’know for someone who claims to not be friends with him you seem to know a lot of things about him.”

“No, I just know a lot about you my sweet underclassman.” Oikawa brushed him off, but he wouldn’t meet his eyes and Yahaba wasn’t convinced. He took a breath to continue questioning Oikawa but was quickly cut off. “Quit trying to change the subject Mr. Conspiracy. What were you two up to last night?”

Yahaba groaned, why was he friends with such gossipy people?

“We did homework. Then he went home. That’s it.”

Oikawa deflated. “Well that’s boring.”

“Yup it was. Can I go now?”

“Hmm,” Oikawa perked up again, “then why were you so apprehensive about seeing him this morning?”

Yahaba was certain his face was never going to recover from the amount of abuse his blood vessels were taking today.

“I-” He cleared his throat but his voice still came out weaker than he would have liked. “I really don’t think that’s any of your business.” Not that it mattered because it didn’t seem as if Oikawa had heard him. Hand to his chin he was mumbling to himself, much like he did when trying to figure out an opposing team’s strategies. 

“Oh.” He finished softly and perked up before turning back to Yahaba with an innocently curious expression so unlike the many devious looks he normally pulled. “Did you just realize that you like him?”

Okay maybe it wasn’t by looking you in the eyes that allowed Oikawa to read your mind, Yahaba would have to rework that theory.

“I’m right! Look at your face!” The face of the devil was back as he full bellied laughed at whatever face Yahaba was apparently making. 

Crossing his arms with a huff and a roll of his eyes, Yahaba pretended his face wasn’t on fire as he shot back, “Yeah, well, now you know. Happy?”

“Ecstatic!” 

“Great, well I’ll be going then-”

“Wait!” Oikawa jumped in front of the door as Yahaba started toward it, his laughter finally receding.

“Why? You got what you wanted.”

“Don’t you want my help?”

Yahaba flashed him and unimpressed look. “Why would I want your help?” Oikawa looked aghast, jaw falling open in offense.

“Because I’m am your fabulous captain who is always full of impeccable advise-”

“Well,-”

“A~nd!” Oikawa spoke over Yahaba’s interruption, throwing him a dirty look for whatever rude thing he was going to say, which was fair. “I happen to have snagged the best boyfriend in the world so obviously I can help you get the man of your dreams!” Oikawa flourished his hands dramatically. Yahaba snorted.

“Just because Iwaizumi has bad taste doesn’t mean you can help me. Also I don’t need any help!”

“So rude Yaha-chan! But because I like you I’ll tell you a secret.”

Yahaba perked up at that. “What?”

Oikawa leaned in, cupping his hand to his mouth and theater whispered, “Mad-Dog-chan likes you too.”

“What! How would you know?”

“Weeeell, he hasn’t said as much but I’m pretty good at reading people,” He winked and Yahaba rolled his eyes again, “and with how willing he’s been to piss off Iwa-chan it only makes sense, he normally does whatever he says.”

“Wait,” Yahaba’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “What do you mean? What’s he been doing to piss Iwaizumi off? And what’s that got to do with me?”

Oikawa’s smile stiffened and a few tense seconds of silence passed.

“Ah, would you look at the time, we better head back.” Oikawa didn’t even bother to look at a clock and started backing toward the door, stiff smile still stuck to his face.

“Say something you shouldn’t have again?” 

“Something like that.”

“One of these days I’m gonna get the truth out of you three.”

Oikawa’s fake smile fell into a softer real one.

“I don’t doubt that.”

Oikawa had taken up all of lunch, so Yahaba didn’t see Kyoutani again until afternoon practice. It was rougher than usual thanks to Watari and Oikawa making faces at him whenever he and Kyoutani were within 5 feet of each other, with Hanamaki and Matsukawa joining in after catching on. He wasn’t sure if they were in on it too or if they had just noticed someone was being teased and wanted to join in. In any case it caused him to be off his game, with both the coach and Kyoutani reprimanding him.  
“Are you okay?” Kyoutani pulled him aside after a particularly awful toss. His hand lingered on Yahaba’s arm as he spoke, close enough that his breath tickled his ear and Yahaba had to consciously will his face into submission. Luckily it seemed to have been overworked enough earlier in the day that any flushing now was simply do to the exertion of practice.

“Yeah, fine, just having an off day.”

“An off day called Oikawa.” Yahaba snorted. “Look I don’t know why he and the rest are being annoying, but try and ignore them okay?” Kyoutani’s golden eyes were soft like honey and doing weird things to Yahaba’s insides. Not trusting his voice he nodded and with a smile Kyoutani nodded back. “Let’s get back to it then.” He retrieved their ball and tossed it back. Yahaba caught Oikawa giving him an especially dramatic look this time, pretending to swoon with a hand to his forehead and fanning himself with the other, but forced himself to ignore it and the latter half of practice went by with far less stumbles on his part.

***

The bed creaked beneath him as Yahaba flopped down, returning to his room alone after walking his friends out. Kyoutani had come over again, and even though he kinda wished he hadn’t Watari had come too. Not that he didn’t want to hang out with his so called ‘best’ best friend, and Watari had toned down on the obnoxious faces now that it was just the three of them, it was just that he had kinda liked having Kyoutani to himself yesterday. Moaning at how sappy that sounded he buried his face in his hands, rolling about on his bed. 

He really had it bad huh? He had somehow managed to hold himself together while Kyoutani was around, the panic this morning proving completely unnecessary, but now that he was alone he could finally freak out properly over how head over heels he was already. And Oikawa seemed to believe Kyoutani liked him back? He saw no reason for his upperclassman to lie, and he was good at reading people. Yet at the same time Oikawa was blatantly keeping something from him, not that he was any closer to figuring it out.  
And then there was Ken-chan, still missing for the third day now and really starting to worry Yahaba. Not that there was much he could do. He had no idea where the dog went when not at his house so he didn’t have the first clue on where to look, and you can’t exactly put up missing dog fliers when the dog isn’t yours. Watari hadn’t had any better ideas but promised to keep an eye out, while Kyoutani had simply sat in thought for a bit until his face set and he nodded to himself as if he had come to a decision, but ultimately said he couldn’t come up with anything either. Yahaba was fairly certain he hadn’t even been thinking of ways to find the lost dog.

Luckily that last problem solved itself the next morning when he opened the door to head to school and was greeted by a loud bark and wagging tail.

“Ken-chan!” Yahaba practically slammed the door in his rush and ran to the gate. “Where have you been?” He kneeled down and was immediately knocked over as the dog pushed into him, tail wagging so hard his whole body was wiggling. “All right, all right, I’m happy to see you too!” Ruffling the dog’s fur he managed to get him to back off enough to get his feet underneath himself again. Eyes raking golden and black fur for any signs of harm and finding not a hair out of place he relaxed from a tension he hadn’t even realized he’d been carrying. 

“Well I don’t have time to play, but you wanna walk me to school?” Ken-chan’s wiggling somehow intensified as he licked Yahaba’s hand before bouncing forward towards the school as if he had understood. Coincidence, Yahaba reminded himself.

Watari was surprisingly waiting for him again, though looking much sleepier today. Ken-chan’s greeting bark woke him up in an instant, perking up with a grin as the dog bounded up to him.

“You found him!” He proclaimed, kneeling and giving Ken-chan a good scratch behind his ears.

“If you count him showing up in front of my house this morning as finding him.” Yahaba grinned, in too good of a mood to be properly sarcastic.

Circling between their legs as Watari stood Ken-chan appeared plenty happy to be with them again, but as they started off for school again he hung back. Both boys tried calling to him, and though he wagged his tail he stayed put.

“Guess this is it huh?” Yahaba walked back to give the dog some good-bye pets. 

Watari joined him, “I wonder if it’s another dog’s territory, maybe that’s why he won’t follow us. Maybe that’s why he disappeared for a bit, might’ve got run off by a rival or something.”

“Maybe, but it doesn’t look like he was in a fight.” It sounded plausible, but Yahaba didn’t really know enough about dogs to put any weight into the theory.

Watari shrugged. “Maybe our guy’s just that good.” He ruffled the dog’s fur one last time before turning away. Yahaba rubbed Ken-chan’s head, the affectionate dog licking at his hand as he pulled it away to follow his friend.

“Don’t disappear on me again.”

Ken-chan knocked his head against Yahaba’s leg in what Yahaba was choosing to take as an agreement before turning tail and running back the way they had come.

The morning was sunny and warm, reflecting the boys’ good mood as they walked, in stark contrast to the storm clouds brewing over Iwaizumi’s head as they walked into the clubroom. Normally having Iwaizumi glare at him would be cause for concern, but lately it was happening a lot and for no apparent reason, so now it was just irritating and Yahaba merely sighed as he made his way to his locker.

“What’s up with him?” Watari mumbled, glancing over his shoulder at their irate upperclassman. Yahaba shrugged and glanced over too. Oikawa seemed to be trying to pacify his boyfriend, but looked far too smug and therefore was probably making things worse as Iwaizumi turned and snapped at him.

“Dunno, but it’s probably ‘none of my business’.” Yahaba tried to mock Iwaizumi’s voice but failed miserably, it got a good laugh out of Watari though. 

It wasn’t until after they were done changing that Kyoutani burst through the door, breathing hard with a light sheen of sweat already on his face as if he had run the whole way. Watari immediately filled him in on their morning with Ken-chan as Oikawa began steering everyone toward the gym, physically pulling Iwaizumi with him who looked like he rather wanted a word with Kyoutani. Kyoutani had taken Iwaizumi’s death-glare even better than Yahaba, never even bothering to glance at or acknowledge him at all.  
This continued all through practice, Iwaizumi seemingly waiting for the moment his eyes would magically turn to laser’s and kill Kyoutani on the spot as Kyoutani dutifully pretended like nothing out of the ordinary was happening. 

After practice Yahaba pulled Oikawa to the side, hoping he could at least get him to say something on the matter.

“Hmm, you saw your dog friend this morning huh?” He pondered aloud tapping at his chin, Yahaba’s eyebrows drew together.

“Yeah, but what does that have to do with whatever’s going on with Iwaizumi?”

“Hmmm,” Oikawa ignored him, still tapping at his chin, “and Mad-Dog-chan was running late today and didn’t get to see him.” He continued with a barely contained smirk that screamed ‘I know more that I’m letting on’, and not for the first time Yahaba would like to hit his obnoxious friend.

“Do you have a point?”

“Have you ever seen them at the same time? I mean, has Mad-Dog-chan met mini Mad-Dog-chan yet?” Oikawa fluttered his eyelids.

“No?” 

“Well when they do please take a picture for me, it’ll be hilarious!” Oikawa laughed to himself and skipped off, leaving Yahaba considerably more confused than when they had started the conversation, which he hadn’t thought possible.

 

Kyoutani walking home with them was apparently going to be an everyday thing, which Yahaba didn’t mind in the least. While trying to decide how best to ask Watari beat him to it.

“So what’s the deal with Iwaizumi? He was especially pissed with you today.”

Keeping his eyes forward Kyoutani hummed as he seemingly thought of how he wanted to answer. “He’s, upset with a decision I’ve made.” He said slowly, choosing his words carefully. “He’s trying to be all high and mighty about it but really he’s just paranoid.”

Two pairs of eyes were glued to him as they waited for a continuation, but when none came Yahaba prompted him. “About what?”

“He’s, comparing people and situations that have no right being compared.”

“…”

“… That makes zero sense dude. Can we get some context?”

“Nope.” He popped the p and grinned as the other two boys started grilling him with questions, none of which he bothered to answer. Watari looked as frustrated as Yahaba has been feeling for weeks which made him feel marginally better about the newest vague addition to the mystery.

Yahaba’s daily schedule changed itself again. Ken-chan would meet him in the morning now and walk with him till they greeted Watari, who now grumpily showed up early just so he could see the golden dog for a few minutes. Kyoutani was apparently running in the mornings now and would always show up far too close to starting time already breathing hard while Iwaizumi glowered at him from a distance. Then in the evenings the trio would walk home together, most nights stopping at Yahaba’s but occasionally Watari’s to do their homework together. Going to Watari’s had the perk of getting to walk home alone with Kyoutani. They’d never been to Kyoutani’s house but he was fairly sure it was in the opposite direction, yet Kyoutani always walked him all the way to his front gate before saying goodbye. 

It made Yahaba a little weak in the knees just thinking about it. 

Tonight had been a Watari night, they had stayed even later than usual because Watari was this close to failing history (he always fell asleep in that class) and had begged his  
friends to help him study until they were sure he could pass. Kyoutani was optimistic and said he had about a 50/50 chance. Yahaba promised to pray for him.

The sky was clear and allowed the bright full moon to light their way as they walked, making bets on Watari’s test grade and watching their breath appear in front of their faces in the cooling evening air.

Yahaba’s house seemed to move closer every time they made this trip, and he couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed once it came into view, signaling the end of their time together. They said goodbye, but Yahaba hesitated, not quite ready to part for the day. Kyoutani must have felt similarly, feet remaining planted on the sidewalk. They stared at each other in silence, Yahaba barely breathing, afraid any noise or movement would break the spell and cause Kyoutani to leave. 

Slowly a hand reached up between them, brushing softly into Yahaba’s hair.

“Your hair’s really pretty in the moonlight.”

Yahaba’s heart skipped a beat before proceeding to pound like a war drum, and before he could get his malfunctioning brain to think of something to say Kyoutani seemed to realize what he was doing and pulled back, looking rather embarrassed and turning away. It was hard to tell in the moonlight but Yahaba was fairly sure he could detect a tint of pink on his cheeks which was not helping his brain’s rebooting process at all.

“Uh, thanks?” He finally managed, still a little breathless.

Shoving his hands in his pockets Kyoutani cleared his throat, “So I’ll uh, see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

With a nod and one final heart-stopping grin Kyoutani left, leaving Yahaba alone and trying to remember how to walk again.

“You’re home late.” His father called as he finally made it inside.

“Yeah we-” His voice was still a little light and airy, he cleared his throat and continued sounding more like himself. “-we were helping Watari study for the history test tomorrow, if he fails he’ll have to take remedial lessons.” 

“Think he’ll pass?”

“I’m… optimistic.” Yahaba’s father laughed as he made his way into his room, throwing his bag on the floor and running his hand through his hair. 

Pretty? He thinks my hair is pretty?!

Heart still beating out of his chest Yahaba headed to the bath, hoping a good soak could calm him enough to get some sleep tonight.

Lying in bed warm and with a significantly slower pulse sleep still avoided him just as he had been afraid of. His mind replayed the way Kyoutani had looked at him, the way his hand had felt in his hair, and his heart yearned for Kyoutani more strongly than ever. He wanted to be closer to him, wanted to be able to bridge that gap, to take the next step as daunting as it seemed. There were consequences should Kyoutani not actually return his feelings, he had to put the team first after all. But his heart yearned anyway, wanted him here by his side.

Scratch…tap tap.

With a start Yahaba turned in bed to face his window, where backed by moonlight was a figure. A flash of fear jumped down his spine, pulling the blanket up close to his chest. But as his eyes adjusted he heard a very soft chuff and he realized he recognized this figure. Adrenaline still running through his system he crept on wobbly legs to the window, and upon seeing golden fluffy ears and dark rings around the neck he opened the window.

“Ken-chan? What the hell?” He yell-whispered.

“Boof.” Ken-chan’s tail was going a mile a minute, leaning in and licking at Yahaba’s arms.

“It’s the middle of the night!” He hissed. The dog immediately drooped, giving him sad puppy-dog eyes with a whine.

“Oh don’t look like that. What do you want? To come in?”

Ears flicking up and tail resuming its wagging, “Boof!”

“Shhhhh! Alright but you gotta be quiet.”

Stepping back Yahaba had intended to head for the front door to let his guest in, but the instant there was room Ken-chan jumped through the window with ease.

“Ok then.” Yahaba mumbled, rather impressed, as he shut the window. With a flap of his ears Ken-chan shook out his fur, looking back over his shoulder at Yahaba with his tongue lolling out of his big dog grin. Yahaba shook his head with a smile, walking past and climbing back into bed with his guest jumping up behind him and curling up behind his knees. 

His mom would probably ground him if she found out he was letting Ken-chan stay the night, she had told him repeatedly they were under no circumstances going to be taking in the dog no matter how sweet he was, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care at the moment. The warmth behind him was soothing and within moments he was falling asleep, thinking about how much lighter he felt now that Ken-chan was here. 

***

Dark, probably still sometime in the middle of the night. Cold, he couldn’t feel Ken-chan’s body pressed against him anymore, had he moved to the floor? Voices, murmuring quietly behind him. Wait-

Eyes flying open Yahaba tried to keep himself still. Lying on his side away from the window he saw nothing but his room bathed in pale moonlight. Behind him, likely at the window, were two distinct voices talking quietly. Hearing nothing but low timbers he couldn’t make out what was being said or who they were. What should I do? What can I do? If I get up they will probably attack me, but what if they plan on doing that anyway? Should I scream? Should I –

“This is serious!”

“I am serious!”

The voices raised from a murmur to a stage whisper, just enough of a change for Yahaba to get the words. But it wasn’t what was being said that had his eyes widening in shock, it was who was saying them. Because not only was he fairly sure he recognized the first voice, he was positive he knew the second.

“Kentarou,” the first voice was softer, almost pleading. 

“Please leave Iwaizumi, before you wake him up.”

The sharp intake of breath Yahaba couldn’t stop was hidden in the sound of the window sliding shut. Before he could even begin to process everything that had just happened he felt a bounce on the bed behind him as if a dog had jumped on the bed. Unable to resist looking Yahaba finally rolled over to see his room exactly how he left it, no one at the window and no one in the room but him and the large golden dog curling up on his bed. The dog froze as he turned over, eyeing him warily as if waiting for a reaction.  
Reaching down he stroked the dogs head, and with a few thumping tail wags the dog resumed getting comfortable and seemingly fell back asleep within minutes.

Oikawa’s voice rang thru his mind. “Have you ever seen them at the same time?”

Yahaba was awake long into the night.


End file.
